Rolling mill repeater



Dec. 10, 1957 K. J. BoREs Erm. 2,315,691

ROLLINGV MILL REPEATEK Y Filed Nov. 13. 195:5

United States Patent ROLLING-MILL` REPEATER ,pKazmer I. Bores, BroadyiewHeightsgand Earle L. Cham- .,lvellaiill, Macedonia, .Ohioyfgassjgnors to United `States Steel .Corporation Applicationy November 13,1953f-Serial Noi. 39.15976 1 Claim. (Cl. `Sil-e152) The presentzinventionfA relates generally to continuous Lhot metal rolling mills andhas fonitswrimary ,object the provision of an articulated repeatergfor guidingmaterial being processed from one line of.; rollq-standsto another.

j Frequently the line of finishing rollstands .off-.a imodern hot rod or strip mill is positioned ,.generallyiparllel to the line of intermediate roll stands. ,.-As the .rodgorg strip emerges from theintermediatestands, it enters a repeater and is guidedA thereby to `the'entrance end of the ,i finishing roll, stands.

`:Priorzto our invention,.rollingzmill repeaters ewere integral, arcuate shaped, trough-like structures which were positioned with one end adjacent the exit end of one line of roll stands and the other end adjacent the entrance end of a parallel line of roll stands. Generally, the speed at which the rod or strip emerges from the line of intermediate stands of a rolling mill is greater than the speed at which it can enter the finishing roll stands. This difference, which is due to the accelerated elongation that takes place in the finishing line, varies according to the size of the material being rolled. In order to compensate for this difference in speed, the repeater was provided with an open top to allow a portion of the rod or strip to extend in a loop along the floor of the mill after the leading end of the material had entered the finishing stands. If a cobble occurred in the finishing stands, the strand of rod or strip was cut at the entrance end of the finishing line. This caused the remainder of the cut strand to run out onto the mill iioor so that damage by the cobble was held to a minimum.

In modern high speed rolling mills the individual strands of material follow each other very closely as they pass through the mill in succession so that when a cobble occurs in the nishing stands there is ordinarily at least one strand progressing through the intermediate rolls approaching the repeater. Up to the time of our invention, the leading end of the strand following the cobbled strand was diverted out of the entrance end of the repeater by means of a manually manipulated bar or similar tool to force the strand to run out onto the looping floor instead of around the repeater. Frequently, due to the speed at which the mill was running, it was impossible for a workman to get to the entrance end of the repeater in time to divert the following strand. When this happened, the strand continued around the repeater and entered the finishing line, thus adding to the damage caused by the cobble. The necessity for manually diverting the strand following a cobbled strand created a hazardous situation for the Workman hurrying to accomplish the task. Serious accidents have occurred when workmen have tripped or slipped and fallen while hurring to the entrance end of the repeater after a cobble occurred in the finishing line.

We propose to eliminate the need for manually diverting the leading end of a strand of rod or strip entering a repeater by providing an articulated repeater having a pivoted entrance portion which may be manipulated Patented De.,1o, 1957 from; aremote point toidivert-fthe-leading` end` of arstrand out ofthe repeater.

The nature of the;Y invention 'and'iits 4distinguishing `V` features' and advantages Ywill be fully t apparentgvfromtlthe following ldetailed Ldisclosure and*the appendedfcl'aim vwhen readj-in connection "with the accompanying `drawingsgin` which:

Figure l is'Y aj'plan 'View' showiiigthe repeaterof-our invention installed Vin" a'rolling' mill;

Figure 2 is'an enlarged detail viewi in gplan showing the articulated portion, of the repeater;

Figure 3 is a side-elevational view; of' Figurel`2;w and Figure 4- ,isv a e cross sectionalmview'. taken ionfthe4 line jj Referringmoretparticularly tothendrawings, reference -vnumeralZ indicates theexit stand of a" line ofintermediate roll stands of a hot strip mill wherein 'the"line-of *finishing -stands is'disposedigenerally,parallelto .the "-line of intermediaterolls.

lrepeater-andLis .guided-therebyf to the entrance finishing stand4.

1"lherepeater' 10 of our invention is made up of an articulated U-shape rail 12 having a pivoted segment 14 adjacent the exit end of the guide 6. The rail 12 is substantially Z-shape in cross section along the greater part of its length having a web 16 with an inwardly directed flange 18 extending from the top thereof and an outwardly directed flange 20 extending from the bottom thereof. The initial portion 22 of the pivoted segment 14, however, is made without the upper flange 18. The web 16 of the portion 22 tapers downwardly from a point approximately midway of its length to a zero height adjacent the discharge end of the guide tube 6. The remainder of the rai-l 12 is Z-shape in cross section and is of uniform height along its entire length. The pivoted segment 14 of the repeater is ordinarily positioned along the outside of the exit end of the guide tube 6 so that the strip emerging from the guide tube is guided laterally by the short initial straight portion and then rides under the ange 18 and is held inside the repeater thereby so that it is positively guided to the finishing stands. The flange 18 prevents the strip S from jumping `out of the repeater as it travels therearound.

As best shown in Figures 1 and 2, the segment 14 is pivoted as at 24 so that it may be shifted from the out` side of the pass line of the guide tube 6 to the inside thereof. This is accomplished by means of an air cylinder 26 having a piston rod 28 projecting therefrom. The piston rod may be connected Kto the segment 14 by means of a bent hook 30, as shown, or any other suitable means desired. The air cylinder is remotely actuated by control means in the mill operators pulpit (not shown).

During normal operation of the rolling mill, the pivoted segment 14 of the repeater is positioned adjacent the outside of the pass line of the guide 6 so that the leading end of the strip emerging from the guide tube travels around the inside of the repeater and is guided to the entry end of the finishing stand 4. In the event of a cobble occurring in the finishing ro-ll stands, the mill operator actuates the air cylinder 26 so that the pivoted segment 14 is moved to the opposite side of the exit end of the guide tube 6, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 2.

This forces the leading end of the next following strand of strip S to travel along the outside of the initial portion 22 and to run out along the mill floor instead of traveling around the repeater.

Another function of the repeater of our invention is its use in forming a loop to compensate for the difference in the speed of the strip emerging from the intermediate rolls and the speed at which it may enter the finishing rolls. Usually the speed of the strip passing through the finishing stands is slower than-,that from which it emerges from the intermediate rolls and therefore it is necessary to allow a loop of varying size, depending upon the amount of difference in speed, to form along the mill fioor between the intermediate rolls and the finishing rolls. The tapered construction of the initial portion 22 of the pivoted segment 14 of the repeater and the absence of the top fiange 18 permits the strip to jump out of the repeater and run out on the mill floor after the leading end of the strand has entered the finishing rolls and the pivoted segment 14 is momentarily shifted to the inside of the pass line.

Although we have shown our repeater as being positioned between the intermediate rolls and the finishing rolls of a rolling mill, it will be understood that it may be installed between any of the roll stands of a rolling mill desired.

While one embodiment of our invention has been shown and described, it will be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the following claim.

We claim:

A repeater for reversing the direction of movement of attenuated stock comprising a guide for guiding the leading end of said stock in a straight path, an elongated upstanding curved flange of generally U-shape providing .4 an entry end and an exit end, the straight section of the entry end being in alignment with said guide, said flange being formed in two sections pivoted together, the major portion of the flange on the exit end being stationarily mounted and a minor entrance section portion of said flange being pivoted thereto for movement into a first position which receives the stock on the inside of said ange and guides it around the flange for reversing its movement and into arsecond position receiving the stock on the outside of said flange whereby the stock may be free to continue its movement in a straight path, a significant portion of the entrance section of said Harige decreasing in height toward its entrance end, and controlled power means for shifting said pivotal section to either of its two positions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 318,613 Garrett May 26, 1885 366,136 Tallman July 5, 1887 390,285 Daniels Oct. 2, 1888 461,900 Allis Oct. 27, 1891 1,826,451 Brauer Oct. 6, 1931 2,629,273 Tener Feb. 24, 1953 l FOREIGN PATENTS 92,633 Germany 1896 510,893 .Germany Oct. 9, 1930 

